MILENA | thefourthsolution

milena

I love change, adventure, uncertainty, and the unknown. Life to me is an adventure, or rather: when it is an adventure, then it is alive. I struggle when life becomes predictable.

Art (my own and art made before the 1960s), travel, reading, learning about science and philosophy, meditation, yoga, teaching, and coaching -enabling others to lean fully into their fears and potential and create meaningful lives- are activities/areas in life that create my oxygen and give me a deep sense of joy and meaning. I love radical thinking and get fired up by the impossible. My work as an artist/sculptor can be seen here: hylesophy.com .

Having grown up in Germany I have since worked and lived in many different countries/on different continents. I am the mother of two sons with whom I have shared many unforgettable adventures such as living in a remote wilderness location on the West Coast of Scotland, and a five-year international journey that included two life-changing years in Kathmandu/Nepal, several treks in the Himalayas, living in Sri Lanka, driving across Tanzania and Malawi in -and sleeping on top of- land rovers, and traveling in an American RV across southern Europe for nine months. I am currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

When some years ago my life fell apart, my mind, utterly overwhelmed by events beyond my control, got stuck like a record player that played the same handful of thoughts over and over again. For over one year, I suffered from PTSD. It was in those darkest moments that I suddenly understood on a deep level that I am not my brain and discovered deep inner peace and joy -and thus liberation- as if beneath my thinking. I discovered that when you lose everything you are invited to discover that which can NOT be lost. I have since rebuilt my life with that which cannot be lost.

The discoveries I made during that time about the true nature and cause of suffering and about how to transcend it, followed by the richness and joy of my own so-called 'post-traumatic growth' I today know to be some of my greatest treasures.

My rich life experience informs my work as a coach; it allows me to hold the multifaceted experiences and identities of my clients and to hold open the door to their inner peace, freedom, agency, joy and power.

One : One Coaching

I do not believe in taking you from A to B.

I am interested in assisting you in changing the alphabet and developing your own rules and grammar -

and I do not think anybody has ever been inspired by mediocre goals that lack bold vision and heart.

Our world is what we think it is and exceptional things happen when and because we presuppose their existence,

when and because we believe in, and exclusively filter for, the exceptional in ourselves and in each other.

It is already there, at the core, deep inside each one of us - deep inside of you.

This -your- core is diamond-like. It is unchanging. Nothing can be added, and nothing can be taken away.

And it does not, i.e. *YOU* DO NOT NEED FIXING. It cannot be damaged -

but it CAN get hidden under layers and layers of experiences (that leave imprints in your nervous system) that are obstructing and shrouding its, i.e. your, sheer brilliance and power, often to the point where it feels like it has been lost altogether. Working with me, we peel those layers back one by one.

And when we do, everything changes.

I INVITE YOU INTO A NEW PARADIGM

where exponential growth and success in the external world are NOT the primary focus and goal.

Instead, the goal is, first of all, for you to be fully rooted in and live from this core -from your intrinsic WHOLENESS-

where you are already enough, worthy, safe, loveable, and powerful within.

Working with me you discover that this inner state does NOT depend on and cannot get disturbed by external events.

In my clients' -and my personal- experience, exponential regenerative growth, impact, and success in the external world

are then the SIDE EFFECT and NATURAL CONSEQUENCE

of this unadulterated/crystal clear connection and expression of this diamond core.

By its/by YOUR very own nature, your impact on the world is thus naturally regenerative.

The extractive and toxic paradigm that has ruthlessly exploited human and natural resources over the last decades,

and that has pushed human civilization to the brink ends (t)here.

Teaching & Mentoring

I have worked as a guest lecturer at the University of Art Berlin, where I was in charge of the teaching programme for first-year art students.

I mentor and coach artists -and art students- to withstand the pressures and constraints of today's highly standardised and standardising art and culture industry, and support them in being fearless, self-determined and radical in their approach, find their unique artistic identity and measure their own work against the greatest achievements in the history of art - with the aim to create works that are a meaningful contribution to our collective culture and worth being passed on to future generations.

I have a special interest in and passion for the development of innovative educational methods which nourish and enable people to be fearless, autonomous, unmanipulatable, and fully self-determined in their decision-making processes.

I am the co-founder of artistunderground.co.uk, a not-for-profit organisation concerned with updating art education to 21-st century challenges and potential.

I have an MA in Art and am a certified Life Coach, EMDR Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, Wingwave Coach, Integrative Change Worker/Life Coach, and Integrative Hypnotist certified by the Ethical Coaching Collective, and am certified in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy and am trained in Positive Intelligence. I am a member of the International Association For Counsellors and Therapists (IACT).

Group Coaching

In collaboration with the Scottish Charity Venture Trust, I ran a 9-month personal development/photography program called 'Women in Focus', working with women with extremely difficult/traumatic life stories, and drug, alcohol, and crime issues. It included a one-week wilderness experience run by the charity. Long before I had any formal qualifications as a coach, my main tools at the time were: love, an exclusive focus on each woman's dignity, beauty, talents, and strengths - and homemade cake. :-) Ignorant of any professional (as well as any health & safety) protocols guiding me on how to work with 'offenders', we did things that later I learned I should never have done such as exchanging personal phone numbers ("Of course!") and swimming together in wild rivers and the open sea ("Yaaayyy, come on - let's go!!!"). My ignorance and the very absence of any (distancing) 'professionalism' were (part of) my superpower and an absolute key to the extraordinary success of this project. We met as equals; beneath our vastly diverse life experiences and backgrounds, we touched deep common ground. Over time, with my focus on each woman's strengths, all of these came to light and grew; being heard, supported and seen in that light, their self-perception -and lives- changed. They began to make self-empowering positive life choices - went back to college, got back driving licences, ended toxic relationships, found employment, and started to build healthy families and lives free from crime. Together we created a movie-like presentation with quotes from our conversations (which I had recorded with their permission) and photographs they had taken, documenting their lives and positive development over the course of the program.

This project was so extraordinarily transformational and successful -and the movie so powerful- that it led to an invitation by the Scottish Parliament where an event was specifically hosted to present it to a select audience of MPs, journalists, and professionals in the criminal justice system. Each of the women spoke in parliament about the life-changing impact of this project. It was an unforgettable experience and absolute highlight in their lives and also in my life.

This event impacted the debate about women's needs within the criminal justice system.

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